Hand sanitizer imports clean up

Hand sanitizer imports clean up    Trade is off in most commodities, but information service Panjiva said it has found imports of one commodity has spiked in recent months as concerns about swine flu have grown.
   The New York-based firm said an analysis of hand sanitizer shipments found that in the third quarter, there were 128 waterborne hand sanitizer shipments to the United States, compared to 56 shipments in the third quarter of 2008. The company did not say how large the shipments are, but a graph of the quarterly shipments shows a dramatic upswing in the past year.
   It’s also a contrast from the overall trends the company has been seeing in global trade. It said from August to September there was a 5 percent decline in the number of global manufacturers shipping to the U.S. market. Similarly, there was a 4 percent decline in the number of U.S. companies receiving waterborne shipments from global manufacturers.